On Friday, the folks at Fiksu – a leading firm that helps top brands optimize their iOS and Android mobile app marketing – published new findings about the …

On Friday, the folks at Fiksu – a leading firm that helps top brands optimize their iOS and Android mobile app marketing – published new findings about the holidays and their impact on mobile marketing costs.

According to today’s report, the holiday season spiked mobile app marketing costs by as much as 30 percent in the month of November. This was taking place while the volume of mobile app downloads fell at the same time.

For November, the Fiksu Cost per Loyal User Index shot up by 30 percent, or 32 cents, to $1.38, compared to October’s $1.06. This marks a sharp change in the Index’s trajectory, which steadily declined during the preceding four months, hitting a low for the year during October when the iPhone 5 launch prompted heightened organic searches and more cost-efficient marketing spends.

“November’s spike brought marketing costs remarkably close to last year’s level in November 2011,” Fiksu says, adding that the month also mirrored the impact of the iPhone 4S launch followed by the holiday rush last year.

“We can chalk November’s dramatic surge in mobile app marketing costs to increasing – and anticipated – holiday season spending, combined with a drop in organic downloads in the aftermath of the iPhone 5 launch,” says Micah Adler , Fiksu CEO. “We can expect costs and download volumes to climb through December, much like last year, as marketers spend heavily in preparation for the flood of new devices and rush of user activity and app discovery around Christmas.”